Sep 9, 2013 11:04 AM
Anime Seasons
Anime Relations:
Hataraku Maou-sama!, Shingeki no Kyojin
Since I feel like my profile is becoming too wordy, I'll be posting stuff here instead. These are just shallow and inconsequential impressions on the anime seasons. I started in the Winter Season of 2013 so there isn't much to see as of yet. The comments here are in no way shape or form actual reviews on the series. This is more of a way for me to keep track of the seasons than anything else. The ratings are a bit more precise just to make my opinion more clear and I won't rate the 2-cour series in the season they begin but only when they end.
Anime Seasons:
2013
Spring season:
Overall Opinion: A really good season in my honest opinion. It's been a while since the last really good season so this was actually pretty refreshing, especially considering that my expectations were a bit low. Most of my favorite from this season came as complete surprises. I was really pessimistic about SnK's adaptation, I didn't see anything besides a mildly funny premise in Maou and from having read the first chapters of the (what I now know is a bad) manga adaptation of Yahari I thought it was going to be mediocre at best.
Completed/ Up-to-date:
1.) Shingeki no Kyojin - A manga I've held close to my heart since the first english fan release was adapted so well. I couldn't be happier. I want I.G. Production to animate all the mangas I like.
2.) Hataraku no Maou-Sama - Went into this without even reading the synopsis. From the poster I was expecting a decent show at best. It certainly blew me away with a very impressive sense of humor. Will most likely end up as the funniest or one of the funniest of the year. I want a second season for sure. (82 - 8/10)
3.) Yahari (...) - Started out decent but became really good after a few episodes. Something that should be said - this is NOT a Romantic Comedy. It is a School Life Comedy, there are hints of romance but the story doesn't focus on that. Saying this is a Romance is like saying that Dragon Ball is a Drama and Sanctuary a Comedy. Dragon Ball has a couple dramatic scenes and Sanctuary very rarely has a joke or two, but they are not a Drama or a Comedy. Some secondary genres may be added as complement when the show requires it - that's perfectly normal in a lot of other things besides Anime (Transformers is an Action movie, not a Romance, right?). Just because it has a bit of implied romantic developments it DOES NOT FOCUS ON THAT, nor do those relationships develop particularly. (81 - 8/10)
4.) Yondemasu Yo, Azazel-San - Weaker than the 1st Season? Yes. Still funny? Absolutely. (79 - 8/10)
5.) Suisei no Gargantia - In a way this disappointed me. I was expecting something better, a lot better in fact. But when I really think about it, it was actually a pretty good show. It had a few very interesting scenes. (76 - 8/10)
6.) Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-San - Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I thought that too and had 0 expectations for this. It turned out hilarious. If you enjoy silly humor definitely check this out. (75 - 8/10)
7.) Aiura - ... ... ... Somehow I don't feel like this a waste of time. (65 - 7/10)
8.) Mushibugyo - I'm not sure why I'm still watching, I've dropped some this season that I liked more.
Dropped: Devil Survivor 2 (5/10); Date A Live (it had potential but the execution was just... too lacking. I'll read the novels - 5/10); Oreimo (this... feels different from the 1st season... At some point in the future I might come back to this but not anytime soon).
On Hold: Dansai Bunri (6/10); Hentai Ouji (7/10). I don't feel like I'll pick these up anytime soon though.
Summer Season
Overall Opinion - Particularly better than expected. Watamotte was better adapted than I expected and even more so in KamiNomi's case. Uchouten Kazoku was a major surprise since I started watching without knowing it was from the writer of Tatami Galaxy. Gatchaman Crowds and Love Lab turned out much better than expected as well. Overall it was really good for a summer season. There were some disappointments - severe in Danganronpa's case, mild in Kamisama and Free's, but oh well.
Completed:
1.) Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! - 82 (8/10) - Extremely cringe-worthy. Very unconfortable but hilarious. Some scenes might have been a bit too exaggerated considering the majority of it this was pretty great.
2.) Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Megami-hen - 82 (8/10) - The best KamiNomi season by far. Adapted the best part of the manga as well as it could in 12 eps. The director and scriptwriter(s) did an awesome job cramming so much in such little running time - it worked out great.
3.) Uchouten Kazoku - 80 (8/10) - Well written dialogue and well built characters this was a very pleasant surprise. I was expecting a bit more from the ending though and there are many questions that were left unanswered so I would really like a 2nd season.
4.) Gatchaman Crowds - 75 (8/10) - Very strange show. Eccentric and well paced, some characters needed much more development and the story could have gone for something more at the ending as it took a quite a few generic turns in the last few eps which surprised since most things were refreshing up to that point. Still, this was really entertaining.
5.) Servant x Service - 74 (7/10) - Great SoL, as good as the first season of Working. The perfect thing to relax to every week I would love to see more of this.
6.) Love Lab - 73 (7/10) - A very pleasant surprise. While some of the drama felt a bit unnatural the jokes were mostly good and kept a very pleasant tone and feel. Hoping for a 2nd season.
7.) Blood Lad - 71 (7/10) - Started out exciting, perfectly paced and stylistically engrossing and simply lost most of it until the end. The story didn't wrap up at all and felt terribly structured and paced after the first few eps. Still fun enough to warrant a watch if you're a fan of the genre.
8.) Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi - 7.0 - This had as much potential as it has flaws and poor execution. Pros: Engrossing world when the story focuses on the adventure element, interesting concepts or ideas, attractive visual style. Cons: inconsistencies, shallow characters that are meant to look "deep", confinement of the story in claustrophobic, generic and uninteresting environments, exaggeration of visual style at times, etc, etc.
9.) Kiniro Mosaic - 69 (7/10) - Amusing SoL but it got a bit olf after the first couple episodes. They could have tried to keep it fresher and funnier. Still a cute anime that I recommend to fans of the CGDCT ("Cute Girls Doing Cute Things") sub-genre.
10.) Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou - 68 (7/10) - Startedout with potential but poor execution left it as a mere defective clone of Madoka. Not terrible but it won't feel as rewarding as the first episode may promise.
11.) Free! - 65 (7/10) - Many problems here. Too much forced drama, Free just didn't know what it wanted to be, so it tried to be many things at once: Energetic Sports [1]; School-life drama [2]; Slice of life [3]; Coming-of-age [4]. It could have garnered all the good points from those genres: 1- Fast pace, energy, pure fun; 2- well placed drama, engrossing dramatic backstories; 3- relaxing feeling, deep appreciation of everyday life, mono no aware; 4- well developed characters with realistic emotional evolution considering the story developments. Instead it shot itself in the foot multiple times and fell into the pits of ALL THOSE GENRES: 1- shallow characters that only look cool; 2- overdramatized reactions, unnecessary drama (melodrama); 3- slow pace; 4- cheap overdramatized events that somehow change someone's whole personality. Though it wasn't terrible it could've been much better. Though I have to say this isn't even close to being as "gay" as many people make it out to be.
12.) Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou - 62 (6/10) - Dumb humor. Still it worked for me at times, sad thing is it missed on most other occasions.
13.) Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku - 54 (5/10) - The staff must have been composed of amateurs or beginners in the industry because this felt half-assed in many many levels.
Dropped:
Silver Spoon - ep.1 - I had tried the manga a few years ago when it started and I didn't like it. Decided to check out the anime but it was still not my thing, I stopped watching after around 1 or 2 minutes that's why I didn't even add it to my dropped list.
Kimi no Iru Machi - ep.1 - This was completely different from what I would have wanted out of a KNIM adaptation. The manga holds special meaning to me as it was one of first few manga that got me hooked on manga itself around 3 years ago so I couldn't keep watching. It might have turned out good though, I don't know.
Choujigen Game Neptune: The Animation - ep.5 - This was just very boring. The world had potential as it seemed to have a lot of well thought-out themes and concepts but they weren't explored in the slightest. The characters never showed anything beyond their cuteness and sticked to typical character types, the "villains" were some of the worst I have seen in a while, the action scenes weren't exciting... A waste of time.
Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei - The Animation - ep.5 - What a trainwreck... I never played the game but this anime just ruined everything it had going for it. Good premise, interesting twists and funky cool characters are ruined by the terrible pacing and god-awful style of the anime. We know it's a game adaptation but some things only work in games. Seriously though - there was one scene where a certain character is telling his tragic story about his/her brother's death and in the flashback when (s)he yells "Aniki!" I couldn't stop laughing, it seemed like a joke straight out of Gintama when it starts parodying serious anime. I'm not the kind of person who laughs in dramatic moments just fyi. At that point I stopped watching.
Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C³-bu - ep.4 - It seemed strangely bland and not in any good way. It had good ambition and ideas but the execution felt very lacking.
Anime Seasons:
2013
Spring season:
Overall Opinion: A really good season in my honest opinion. It's been a while since the last really good season so this was actually pretty refreshing, especially considering that my expectations were a bit low. Most of my favorite from this season came as complete surprises. I was really pessimistic about SnK's adaptation, I didn't see anything besides a mildly funny premise in Maou and from having read the first chapters of the (what I now know is a bad) manga adaptation of Yahari I thought it was going to be mediocre at best.
Completed/ Up-to-date:
1.) Shingeki no Kyojin - A manga I've held close to my heart since the first english fan release was adapted so well. I couldn't be happier. I want I.G. Production to animate all the mangas I like.
2.) Hataraku no Maou-Sama - Went into this without even reading the synopsis. From the poster I was expecting a decent show at best. It certainly blew me away with a very impressive sense of humor. Will most likely end up as the funniest or one of the funniest of the year. I want a second season for sure. (82 - 8/10)
3.) Yahari (...) - Started out decent but became really good after a few episodes. Something that should be said - this is NOT a Romantic Comedy. It is a School Life Comedy, there are hints of romance but the story doesn't focus on that. Saying this is a Romance is like saying that Dragon Ball is a Drama and Sanctuary a Comedy. Dragon Ball has a couple dramatic scenes and Sanctuary very rarely has a joke or two, but they are not a Drama or a Comedy. Some secondary genres may be added as complement when the show requires it - that's perfectly normal in a lot of other things besides Anime (Transformers is an Action movie, not a Romance, right?). Just because it has a bit of implied romantic developments it DOES NOT FOCUS ON THAT, nor do those relationships develop particularly. (81 - 8/10)
4.) Yondemasu Yo, Azazel-San - Weaker than the 1st Season? Yes. Still funny? Absolutely. (79 - 8/10)
5.) Suisei no Gargantia - In a way this disappointed me. I was expecting something better, a lot better in fact. But when I really think about it, it was actually a pretty good show. It had a few very interesting scenes. (76 - 8/10)
6.) Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-San - Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I thought that too and had 0 expectations for this. It turned out hilarious. If you enjoy silly humor definitely check this out. (75 - 8/10)
7.) Aiura - ... ... ... Somehow I don't feel like this a waste of time. (65 - 7/10)
8.) Mushibugyo - I'm not sure why I'm still watching, I've dropped some this season that I liked more.
Dropped: Devil Survivor 2 (5/10); Date A Live (it had potential but the execution was just... too lacking. I'll read the novels - 5/10); Oreimo (this... feels different from the 1st season... At some point in the future I might come back to this but not anytime soon).
On Hold: Dansai Bunri (6/10); Hentai Ouji (7/10). I don't feel like I'll pick these up anytime soon though.
Summer Season
Overall Opinion - Particularly better than expected. Watamotte was better adapted than I expected and even more so in KamiNomi's case. Uchouten Kazoku was a major surprise since I started watching without knowing it was from the writer of Tatami Galaxy. Gatchaman Crowds and Love Lab turned out much better than expected as well. Overall it was really good for a summer season. There were some disappointments - severe in Danganronpa's case, mild in Kamisama and Free's, but oh well.
Completed:
1.) Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! - 82 (8/10) - Extremely cringe-worthy. Very unconfortable but hilarious. Some scenes might have been a bit too exaggerated considering the majority of it this was pretty great.
2.) Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Megami-hen - 82 (8/10) - The best KamiNomi season by far. Adapted the best part of the manga as well as it could in 12 eps. The director and scriptwriter(s) did an awesome job cramming so much in such little running time - it worked out great.
3.) Uchouten Kazoku - 80 (8/10) - Well written dialogue and well built characters this was a very pleasant surprise. I was expecting a bit more from the ending though and there are many questions that were left unanswered so I would really like a 2nd season.
4.) Gatchaman Crowds - 75 (8/10) - Very strange show. Eccentric and well paced, some characters needed much more development and the story could have gone for something more at the ending as it took a quite a few generic turns in the last few eps which surprised since most things were refreshing up to that point. Still, this was really entertaining.
5.) Servant x Service - 74 (7/10) - Great SoL, as good as the first season of Working. The perfect thing to relax to every week I would love to see more of this.
6.) Love Lab - 73 (7/10) - A very pleasant surprise. While some of the drama felt a bit unnatural the jokes were mostly good and kept a very pleasant tone and feel. Hoping for a 2nd season.
7.) Blood Lad - 71 (7/10) - Started out exciting, perfectly paced and stylistically engrossing and simply lost most of it until the end. The story didn't wrap up at all and felt terribly structured and paced after the first few eps. Still fun enough to warrant a watch if you're a fan of the genre.
8.) Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi - 7.0 - This had as much potential as it has flaws and poor execution. Pros: Engrossing world when the story focuses on the adventure element, interesting concepts or ideas, attractive visual style. Cons: inconsistencies, shallow characters that are meant to look "deep", confinement of the story in claustrophobic, generic and uninteresting environments, exaggeration of visual style at times, etc, etc.
9.) Kiniro Mosaic - 69 (7/10) - Amusing SoL but it got a bit olf after the first couple episodes. They could have tried to keep it fresher and funnier. Still a cute anime that I recommend to fans of the CGDCT ("Cute Girls Doing Cute Things") sub-genre.
10.) Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou - 68 (7/10) - Startedout with potential but poor execution left it as a mere defective clone of Madoka. Not terrible but it won't feel as rewarding as the first episode may promise.
11.) Free! - 65 (7/10) - Many problems here. Too much forced drama, Free just didn't know what it wanted to be, so it tried to be many things at once: Energetic Sports [1]; School-life drama [2]; Slice of life [3]; Coming-of-age [4]. It could have garnered all the good points from those genres: 1- Fast pace, energy, pure fun; 2- well placed drama, engrossing dramatic backstories; 3- relaxing feeling, deep appreciation of everyday life, mono no aware; 4- well developed characters with realistic emotional evolution considering the story developments. Instead it shot itself in the foot multiple times and fell into the pits of ALL THOSE GENRES: 1- shallow characters that only look cool; 2- overdramatized reactions, unnecessary drama (melodrama); 3- slow pace; 4- cheap overdramatized events that somehow change someone's whole personality. Though it wasn't terrible it could've been much better. Though I have to say this isn't even close to being as "gay" as many people make it out to be.
12.) Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou - 62 (6/10) - Dumb humor. Still it worked for me at times, sad thing is it missed on most other occasions.
13.) Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku - 54 (5/10) - The staff must have been composed of amateurs or beginners in the industry because this felt half-assed in many many levels.
Dropped:
Silver Spoon - ep.1 - I had tried the manga a few years ago when it started and I didn't like it. Decided to check out the anime but it was still not my thing, I stopped watching after around 1 or 2 minutes that's why I didn't even add it to my dropped list.
Kimi no Iru Machi - ep.1 - This was completely different from what I would have wanted out of a KNIM adaptation. The manga holds special meaning to me as it was one of first few manga that got me hooked on manga itself around 3 years ago so I couldn't keep watching. It might have turned out good though, I don't know.
Choujigen Game Neptune: The Animation - ep.5 - This was just very boring. The world had potential as it seemed to have a lot of well thought-out themes and concepts but they weren't explored in the slightest. The characters never showed anything beyond their cuteness and sticked to typical character types, the "villains" were some of the worst I have seen in a while, the action scenes weren't exciting... A waste of time.
Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei - The Animation - ep.5 - What a trainwreck... I never played the game but this anime just ruined everything it had going for it. Good premise, interesting twists and funky cool characters are ruined by the terrible pacing and god-awful style of the anime. We know it's a game adaptation but some things only work in games. Seriously though - there was one scene where a certain character is telling his tragic story about his/her brother's death and in the flashback when (s)he yells "Aniki!" I couldn't stop laughing, it seemed like a joke straight out of Gintama when it starts parodying serious anime. I'm not the kind of person who laughs in dramatic moments just fyi. At that point I stopped watching.
Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C³-bu - ep.4 - It seemed strangely bland and not in any good way. It had good ambition and ideas but the execution felt very lacking.
Posted by
kurosaki_kabuto
| Sep 9, 2013 11:04 AM |
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